All the latest Giants news from MLB.com beat writer Chris Haft.

Giants lefties are no dummies

The pair of left-handed relievers, who will be called upon often against left-handed batters this season, threw their bullpen sessions with something called the “Ultimate Pitchers’ Tool” situated in the left-handed batter’s box.

The “Tool” was a plastic dummy about the size of an average big leaguer, poised in a batting stance and gripping a plastic bat. Its presence gave Taschner and Hinshaw a semblance of the challenge they’ll confront this year.

“It kind of brought me back to that scene in ‘Major League’ when Rick Vaughn takes that dummy’s head off,” Hinshaw said.

He and Taschner did nothing of the sort. Instead, each threw several darting pitches that might have handcuffed a living, breathing hitter.

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